Printer Memory Management and Related Status Reports

To help you manage printer resources, the printer supports a variety of format commands to manage memory, transfer objects (between memory areas, import, and export), object naming, and provide various printer operating status reports.

They are very similar to the old DOS commands like

DIR

(directory listing) and

DEL

(delete file). The most common reports are also part of the Zebra Setup Utility and ZebraDesigner Windows driver.

^XA ⁠— Start Format Command
	(A Single Format Command is recommended for purposes of reuse.)
^XZ — End Format Command

It is preferable to use a single command be processed within this type of format (form). A single command is easily reused as a maintenance and development tool.

Many of the commands that transfer objects, manage, and report on memory are control (

) commands. They do not need be within a format (form). They will be processed immediately upon receipt by the printer whether in a format (form) or not.

To maximize available printer memory, the printer includes an automatic memory defragmentation (defrag). Several factors can trigger a defrag operation. Changing memory by deleting or adding objects to memory can cause a defrag. The printer status light will begin flashing Red, Amber and Green when a memory defrag is in process. Do not turn off the printer’s power while the status light is flashing. This operation may take several minutes if memory use and file fragmentation are high.